Subodh Mukherjee

Subodh Mukherjee Biography

Subodh Mukherjee was a very popular film maker of Bollywood known for his blockbuster hits like Junglee, Sharmilee and Shagird. Though known as a master of comedy and energetic movies, he has also tried other genres of Hindi film making. Mostly active in the golden era of Hindi Cinema -1950s and 1960s, he has also given a few hits during 1970s. He has been instrumental in making Shammi Kapoor the star of Bollywood with the movie – Junglee, with its signature song – Yahoo.

He was a member of the legendary Mukherjee-Samarth family which includes many leading film makers and actors. Noted film maker Sashadhar Mukherjee, founder of Filmalaya studios was his sibling. Actor Joy Mukherjee was his nephew, with whom he has made super hits like April Fool and Shagird. This director is known for his remarkable mix of colours, music and glamour.

Subodh Mukherjee was born on 14 April in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. He started working in Filmalaya Studios – started by his sibling Sashadhar Mukherjee and nephew - Ram Mukherjee. Subodh marked his film debut as a director through the movie – Munimji, which was a huge hit at box office. The movie with some super hit songs, it was a milestone movie in Dev Anand’s career. His second movie starred Dev Anand in leading role – Paying Guest which some evergreen songs like ‘Chand Phir Nikla’.

But the movie which made him overnight star was none other than Shammi Kapoor starrer Junglee in 1960. The movie marked the acting debut of Saira Bhanu. This lighthearted movie with some melodious songs of SJ pair placed Shammi as the new star of Bollywood. Subodh also delivered super hit comedy ‘Shagird’ with actress Saira Bhanu. He delivered three musical hits with the hit pair Joy Mukherjee – April Fool, Shagird and Saaz aur Awaaz.

Since the beginning of 1970s, things didn’t work out and Abhinetri, though known for its melodious music was a failure at box office. Subodh didn’t recover from the shock and slowly retrieved from film making. Teesri Aankh in 1982 was his last release. He died of blood cancer in 2005 aged 84. 

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Updated: November 03, 2015